


Unconditional

by Mirime



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, F/M, Fake Marriage, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Multi, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-11 17:22:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4445168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mirime/pseuds/Mirime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A modern!AU. The death of his estranged uncle makes things complicated for Levi in more ways than one. Fake!marriage trope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where There's A Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Content Notice** (applies to majority of chapters): language, mentions of violence, character death, eventual smut

The envelope didn’t catch Levi’s attention at first. It looked like it was a bill or something and it wasn’t until after he took a look at the sender (a well-known lawyer firm) that he realized it wasn’t the usual, run-of-the-mill post. He tore it open, his gaze quickly looking over the contents.

... _deceased Kenny Ackerman_...

... _recipient is invited_....

... _reading of the will_...

There was a date and time and Levi reached for his phone, speed-dialing Erwin’s number.

“Yes, Levi?”

“Kenny’s dead,” he said. “I just got a notice from a lawyer. He apparently left a will.”

“How sure are we it’s not a trap?” Erwin asked. Levi looked at the thick paper with an indented lettering, the stamp and signature beneath the notice, the discreetly displayed phone number in the header.

“Quite sure. I’ll call the lawyer but it looks real.”

There was a pause at the other end of the call and Levi knew what Erwin was going to ask so he preempted him.

“I’m fine,” he said. “I wished the bastard dead enough times that this is like a fucking dream come true.”

“You know the standard procedure.”

“I know, I’ll call Hange after this to schedule an appointment.”

It was a good thing that he had come back from a long-term assignment recently. The rules said he couldn't go out again for six weeks, which should give him enough time to deal with whatever surprise Kenny's will would throw at him. And Levi was sure there would be something. If anyone could find a way to mess with him even from beyond the grave, it was his uncle.

That one curveball had been nasty enough. Kenny was, had been, one of the best hitmen in the world. A lot of his work had been done on the quiet for the government but after his benefactor had passed away, he had become more of a free-lance operator. Levi's own work in Foreign Operations and Surveillance Central Agency had brought him directly into conflict with Kenny three times. It had been on that third time that Kenny had casually revealed their familial connection and Levi had done his best to ignore the knowledge for the past five months.

Levi was glad that Kenny was dead. That was a fact. The mandatory appointment with a grief counsellor for any member of the active roster of agents who had had a death in the family was a waste of his time. But rules were rules and while Erwin gladly overlooked his bending of those in the field, it was better to play it safe when at home.

"When is the reading of the will?" Erwin broke his train of thought.

"Three days from now, 2 PM."

"Let me know if you need anything."

"Sure."

Levi hang up and stared at the paper in his hand. He was glad that Kenny was dead. He was. He just wished it didn't feel like the man had abandoned him all over again.

* * *

Levi walked into the lawyer's office five minutes before the scheduled meeting time. The secretary ushered him into a large room where two other people were already waiting. An older man in an expensive suit sitting behind a large mahogany desk was obviously the lawyer. It was the woman sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk that caught Levi's attention.

There was something familiar about her. She looked to be about his age, maybe a little older. She was dressed in a dark business suit, with her blond hair combed back from her sharp angled face. She gave Levi a nod of recognition and when she faced him fully, he finally remembered where he had seen her before.

It would be hard to forget someone who had nearly decapitated him with a fucking machette after he had managed to dodge all of her bullets during the chase in a cave system near Stohess.

He managed to check his first instinct which was to draw his gun and shoot her before she had a chance to pull something herself. His hand twitched towards his holster still but as she deliberately moved her hands to the armrests of her chair, he turned the movement into a tugging motion at the edge of his coat.

"Welcome, Mr. Levi, have a seat," the lawyer spoke up, completely obvious to the increased tension in the room.

"Thank you," Levi said and moved towards one of the free chairs, keeping one between himself and the woman. He suspected that her presence had something to do with his uncle. She had been, after all, the man's right hand for nearly five years. While Kenny hadn't been exactly a crime lord, he had built himself a loyal following of highly skilled operatives who took care of some of the jobs he had received. Kenny had still done the most dangerous and lucrative jobs himself, of course, but this woman had more often than not accompanied him.

"This is Ms. Bianca Vickers," the lawyer introduced them. "She is the executor of Mr. Ackerman's will and assures me she can answer any questions regarding the irregularities in the document."

"What irregularities?" Levi adressed his question to the lawyer but it was the woman - Bianca - who answered.

"There is a particular request in the will that had been included only recently at Kenny's insistence."

"It's all perfectly legal, of course," the lawyer hastened to reassure Levi. "So maybe we could start."

At a nod from both parties, the lawyer unfolded the paper in front of him and started reading. There was a lot of legal lingo to get through before he came to the main part.

"With the exception of the property (a house and surrounding grounds) in Yalkell, all assets shall be sold off and the proceeds divided between the following-"

There was a certain percentage of the money going to who Levi suspected were Kenny's closest coworkers but the majority of the money would go to Levi as would the unsold house. It had been quite straightforward so far which meant that the shit would hit the fan soon.

"As for the matter of my journal, the book in question shall be passed to my nephew under one condition." The lawyer cleared his throat awkwardly and Levi knew this was to be the irregularity mentioned earlier. He had a suspicion that the journal was the black book that Kenny had kept years ago during their brief time of living together. Maybe out of some kind of a narcissism or maybe as both a defense and intimidation tactic against the powerful enemies he had made, Kenny had meticulously noted down all of his kills - dates, times, methods used, names of the victims if he had known them and of the people who had hired him if there had been such. If he had kept it updated all these years, it would be a veritable motherlode of answers for a lot of cold cases, not just in FOSCA, but in the ISMRT as well. Which meant that whatever ridiculous condition Kenny had attached to the inheritance of the journal, Levi would have to fulfill it. The information that book could provide was simply too valuable.

"He is to find and marry Mikasa Ackerman. The executor of this will shall evaluate the marriage and the journal will be handed over at their discretion."

Levi met the lawyer's eyes. The man coughed and looked down.

"As I said, Ms. Vickers, as the executor of the will and a close acquaintance of the deceased can probably explain it better."

"Is that even legal? That kind of condition, aren't there some kind of laws against shit like that?"

"Actually, it's one of those things which simply fell out of use and no one bothered to bring the laws up to date," Bianca spoke up. "Challenging that condition on a legal basis would certainly take longer than if you were to follow it."

Levi wanted to argue, he really did. But Kenny had neatly trapped him. Levi could care less for the money but that journal, the information it might possess, it was the only thing of Kenny's that would have him obeying that ridiculous request.

"Is there some sort of time limit on this?"

"No. I'm not an unreasonable person, Levi," Bianca said. "Kenny had his reasons for doing this and you're actually lucky I talked him out of making the birth of your firstborn child be the fulfilling condition."

"Why did he do this?" Levi was actually pretty sure it had been just to screw him over one last time but he wondered if she would admit to it.

"The family. The Ackermans used to be fairly prominent several decades ago but they died out. Kenny thought for a long time that the two of you were the last but he came across a branch family recently. Mikasa is the last descendant of that part of the family just as you are of yours. Kenny decided it would be a good idea to reunite the family, so to speak."

Levi gave into the temptation of rubbing the bridge of his nose. Kenny had never given a crap about family. If he had, he wouldn't have left back then. But a bullshit reason like that won people over. He could tell that Bianca had believed it.

"I need to think this over," he said. And he should probably get another lawyer to take a look at the will, too. Erwin would need to be informed as well.

"Of course, if you would just sign these, the standard statement and disclosure forms."

The lawyer pushed some papers over and Levi scanned them quickly. They were standard forms as the lawyer had said and he signed his name on the bottom. He could see Bianca looking over at him.

"What?" he asked.

"It wasn't included in the will but I think Kenny would have wanted you to start using the Ackerman name."

"I got by without it for thirty years, I think I can manage longer."

"Fair enough," she said and smirked at his badly masked surprise. "I told you I was a reasonable person. We're about done here, aren't we?" she addressed the lawyer and he nodded.

"Yes, I'll just prepare the copies of the will for each of you."

The rest of the time passed quickly and soon enough, they could leave the office. Levi wanted to hurry out but he realized he should probably make an effort to get some more information.

"I could go for a coffee," Bianca said as she buttoned up her coat. "I could answer some of your questions, too. Unless you still hold a grudge over Stohess."

There was that saying about not looking the gift horse in the mouth.

"What's a murder attempt between people like us?"

* * *

"He used to talk about you a lot," Bianca said once they were seated in a small café and their orders brought in. "He was quite proud of you, you know."

"So proud he tried to kill me?" Levi asked sarcastically.

"Kenny had a strange way of showing affection."

The disturbing thing was that she was probably right.

"How did he die?"

Bianca looked away.

"Our last target, we weren't the only ones after him. Our competition went for the big display. Blew up the whole building. Kenny was further in. He got out but he was burned badly. He had also inhaled some smoke. He flatlined on the way to the hospital."

"I see," Levi murmured. He wasn't sure how to react. He felt nothing, not even his previous anger at the man. Shaking his head, he steered the conversation back on track. "That journal, is it worth the hassle?"

Bianca took a measured sip of her coffee, deliberating for a moment.

"It contains information on every single job Kenny had ever done. I helped him rewrite it two years back. It has everything. FOSCA would benefit greatly. ISMRT could be more disturbed, considering how many of those jobs were for them but they have always been a rotten bunch."

"And marrying this Mikasa is the fastest way of getting it?"

"If you challenge the legality of the will, you'll get tied up in a legal struggle for at least two years. If you marry her, you could have the journal within a year." She smiled a bit. "You should listen to me when I say I'm a reasonable person. While Mikasa is a lovely young woman and I'm quite sure you would make a good pair, I have no intention of keeping either of you miserable. Find her, convince her to marry you, tell her the truth if needed, then stay together for a year pretending to be happy and I'll give you what you want. I'll have to insist on you two holding up appearances, though."

"You met her then."

"Not directly. We had to make sure she was eligible. It would be pointless to establish that condition if she was already in a relationship with someone else."

Levi noticed her frequent use of the plural pronouns. She was fully in agreement with Kenny's plan for him. But unless Erwin or Hange came up with something, this would really be the easiest option for getting that journal.

Bianca pulled out a small card and wrote down something.

"You can contact me on this number when you set up the date for the wedding. I'll need to verify that you're sticking to the letter of the will if not the spirit of it." Levi took it from her and she stood up. "I'll expect your call within next month. Use the agency's sources if you have to."

And just like that, she left. Levi stared at the card for a moment and then he pocketed it. He had known that Kenny would find a way to screw him over even from beyond the grave.

* * *

Erwin was in his office when Levi arrived to report on the matter of the will. He showed him the documentation as he related what he had learned from Bianca. Erwin hmmed and nodded but it was clear his focus was on the copy of the will.

"I'll do what's necessary," Levi said. "I want to use the agency's database to track this Mikasa down."

"Of course," Erwin replied, still distracted.

"What's the matter?"

"The name. Mikasa Ackerman. It sounds familiar."

"Could she have been connected to one of the old cases?"

"Maybe," Erwin conceded. "I'm sure it will come to me eventually. You're going to go through with this, then."

It wasn't a question so Levi just shrugged.

"You're also angry about this."

"Wouldn't you be?"

"Is this about Kenny's interference in your life or maybe about Noemi?"

Levi straightened up at that, glaring at Erwin. He had done his best not to think about her and Erwin just had to bring her up.

"This has nothing to do with Noemi."

"Nothing to do with Noemi-" Erwin paused and then he chuckled. "Of course this has everything to do with her. Of course."

"Erwin, as is often the case with you, you're not making a lot of sense."

Erwin shook his head and leaned forward, pushing the will back to Levi.

"Go home, call Farlan, get drunk and curse Kenny's name and then come back here tomorrow. We're going to track down Mikasa and get her on our side and in about a year, we're going to crack open a lot of cold cases. Does that make sense?"

"A little bit."

"On the risk of getting the death glare again, you might think about talking this out with Noemi."

"Shut up, Erwin."

Levi gathered his things and walked out. Erwin was one of the few people who could get away with things like that but there was a line and it had been passed. Things with Noemi were complicated. They weren't together but they were getting to the point where they could be. Now, with the impending marriage, all of that progress had been shot to hell.

Levi pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. He paused at Farlan's name, then scrolled down to Noemi's. He should tell her himself, she was his friend if nothing else - he had wanted her to be something else - but he decided to give himself another day. He had had enough emotional upheaval for one day.

He selected Farlan's name and made the call. Erwin, for all his jerkiness, had given some good advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aiming for a Tuesday/Friday update schedule. This won't be a long fic, up to ten chapters, with lots of emotional development and maybe even some action.


	2. A Taste of Irony

Levi knew he had a reputation around the agency. He was one of their top agents, after all, but more than that, he was someone you didn't want to cross. There were unofficial rules. People didn't make mess, they didn't touch the tea supply in the kitchenette, they got out of his way when he had a heavy scowl on his face. At least most people did.

"I would make a comment about your face getting stuck like that permanently but it's already too late."

"What do you want, Hange?" he asked tiredly. He hadn't gotten drunk last night but that had been only because he hadn't wanted to deal with a hangover on top of everything else. He had spent a better part of the night deciding when to speak to Noemi and how to approach that conversation and he wasn't in the best of moods. If it had been Friday, he would talk to her over their regular drink together at a small bar near the agency.

"I find it quite sweet how much you trust Erwin and myself," the Deputy Chief of FOSCA told him as they poured their second cup of coffee. "It's really humbling."

"What are you babbling about?"

"That matter with the background checks, of course."

Levi reminded himself that Hange, for all their quirks and eccentricities, was an excellent Deputy Chief. They just sometimes didn't realize that other people might have no clue what the fuck they were talking about. The background checks were something the analytical department did and the results were forwarded to Hange who was in charge of them. Depending on the situation, they might then pass on the results to Erwin who then made decisions based on the information. It had worked that way for years so Levi saw no reason why he should be involved.

"It's way too early to deal with you, four-eyes. Just go away."

"So rude," Hange tsked but took their cup and left the kitchenette. "One might think you'd be in a better mood, all things considered."

Levi sighed as he waited for his tea to steep. He had arrived early, hoping to catch Noemi before everyone else but of course she would be running late on this day of all days. Erwin had left him a message last night, telling him to be in the office at eight for an official meeting regarding the search for Mikasa Ackerman and as it was now five to eight, he had barely any time left to prepare his tea, much less have a discussion with one of his colleagues. Who was late anyway which made the point moot.

Levi poured himself a cup when the requisite steeping time passed and started walking towards his desk. Erwin asked him to bring the copy of the will into the meeting plus any notes on his current cases. He couldn't head out on any assignments, not with this whole thing hanging over his head, so most of them would be redistributed to other agents.

There were brisk steps echoing from the direction of the elevators and Levi looked up to see Noemi hurrying towards her empty desk across from his own.

"Hey, good morning," she greeted. "Sorry I'm late."

"Is everything alright?"

She nodded, unwinding her scarf and taking off her coat.

"Yes, it's just that my beloved brother," she said, injecting the appellation with a healthy dose of sarcasm, "who's crashing on my sofa while his apartment gets repainted, took my alarm clock and forgot to give it back. I overslept and Erwin left the message yesterday that he wanted me for a meeting that was at eight."

Levi shook his head. Noemi was one of their best trackers. It made sense that Erwin would want her on this case and as Levi himself had been so adamant about things not being personal between them, he couldn't complain, much as he wanted to.

"I was about to go in myself. Unless you want to get something to drink first?"

"Later, I don't want to keep the boss waiting."

Erwin had a very smug expression on his face when they entered his office. He was doing his best to mask it but Levi knew him too well. Something good for the agency had happened. At any other time, Levi would be glad, too, but he just couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

"Take a seat, you two."

"Is this going to be another two-men operation like Ajave?" Noemi asked. Levi winced at the reminder. That hadn't been one of his brighter moments.

"Not exactly," Erwin replied. "Noemi, how much do you know about Kenny the Ripper?"

"I read a dossier on him a few months ago, after we came back from Stohess. Why?"

"He died recently and we are in a position to get a hold of his journal. The one where he kept records of all his jobs."

Levi wondered why Erwin was beating around the bush so much. He had known his boss for a long time and the only time Erwin acted like this was when he was planning something. 

"Do you want me and Levi to retrieve it?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

That was it. Levi was done with Erwin's evasions.

"Erwin, just tell her what she needs to know," he spoke, glaring at the other man. Erwin sighed.

"Very well. It turns out Kenny's full name was Kenny Ackerman," he paused expectantly and Levi frowned. What the- then he looked at Noemi who straightened up in her seat. "We found out after Stohess but didn't think it wise to bring up as the other thing we learned back then was that Levi here was his nephew."

Noemi glanced at him, her face openly displaying her surprise.

"Such a connection revealed at a time when ISMRT was sniffing around after the failure of the Stohess mission, well, we - as in myself, Hange, Mike and Levi - decided it was better to keep quiet for the time being."

"I see," Noemi murmured. "You had no idea?" she asked Levi.

"No," he replied shortly. "I didn't think it mattered at the time, just a way for him to throw me off."

"How does it tie to the journal?"

"Show her the will, Levi."

He handed the document over. Noemi read it quickly and Levi knew exactly when she came upon the marriage condition. Her eyes widened and she looked up at him. Then she looked down, rereading the section more slowly and she looked up at Erwin.

"I take it the marriage option is the easiest way to get it."

"Yes. It would be purely for show, of course. Levi talked with the executor of the will and the woman is willing to be satisfied with a pretend fulfillment of the condition. I believe 'keeping up the appearances' is how she formulated it."

"How long would it have to last?"

"A year or so. A sort of long-term undercover mission."

Noemi snorted and shook her head. Then she glanced at Levi. He met her gaze, wondering what might be going on through her head. She didn't seem angry or anything. Then again, she had no reason to be.

"How long do you think it will take you to find her?" he asked and was taken aback by her reaction.

"What? But-" she stopped and then she glared at Erwin. "He doesn't know."

Erwin shook his head, smiling a bit.

"Levi doesn't go through the background checks, trusting me and Hange to handle it."

"What the fuck are you two talking about?" Levi was starting to suspect where this was going but if it was so, it was a massive coincidence the likes of which just didn't happen in normal life. Then again, hardly anything about his life qualified as normal.

"Noemi Yeager is not my real name," Noemi said. "My parents died when I was nine. Killed, in what was concluded to be a failed robbery. I saw it and it was thought best that I disassociate from everything that might remind me of the trauma, including my real name. But I was born as Mikasa Ackerman and I'm pretty sure I am the woman your uncle wanted you to marry."

"I told you it was all about Noemi," Erwin said, looking awfully pleased with himself, as if he had come up with everything himself. "This makes things incredibly simple for us. We don't have to persuade someone unknown to help and the whole matter stays inside the agency."

"How wonderful," Levi bit out. "You just assume we're going along with it."

"You told me you would," Erwin pointed out.

"Yes, but she didn't. You can't just order her to do something like that."

"She is right here, thank you very much," Noemi - or should he start calling her Mikasa? - spoke sharply. "I appreciate your input, Levi, but this isn't some kind of a suicide mission that requires me to think carefully about agreeing."

"You would have to pretend for a year to be married to me."

Levi wasn't even sure why he was arguing this. This was one of the best possible outcomes. They were on friendly terms and both of them understood the reasons behind doing this. Maybe he just felt the need to regain some control. The revelation had thrown him for a loop and Levi didn't like that. There had been far too many instances of that recently.

"I'm sorry but you vastly overestimate your unpleasantness," she said calmly. "If I survived those two weeks in Ajave, with your constant bitching from second day onward, because we had to ration our drinking water and everything was, I quote, 'fucking filthy', then I'm pretty sure I can handle living with you for a year in a midst of a city."

"While this is very entertaining to watch," Erwin interjected, "we need to come up with a solid plan. I take it both of you are okay with getting married?"

Both of them nodded.

"Good. Now, we need to decide whether or not you tell people about the real reason behind it."

"I don't think we should," Noemi - Mikasa - he should really found out which she wanted him to use - said. "Even if the executor of the will knows we're just pretending, she specified we should keep up appearances. The less people that know about this, the better."

"I agree in principle," Levi said. "But in that case, we need to establish some prior relationship which will take a few months at the very least."

"Or you can let the rumour mill and some very happy winners do the work for you."

Levi resisted the urge to groan. Of course, Gelgar and his betting pools. He understood the reasoning. Their work was stressful and any kind of release was welcome. Speculating on who in the agency was getting it on and with whom was supposed to be a harmless fun.

"I believe it's currently 4:1 on a casual fling and 2:1 on a serious relationship," Erwin said. "So if you eloped tomorrow, most everyone would believe it."

"And these are the people responsible for the security of the country," Levi murmured. He heard the quickly suppressed chuckle from the woman next to him. "Should I still call you Noemi? Or would you prefer Mikasa?"

"I think, given the circumstances, I should start using my first name. Less legal complications that way."

"Alright, Mikasa."

The name felt strange on his tongue. She had been Noemi to him ever since they met.

"We still need to establish some kind of a cover story for why we're doing this now," she thought aloud. "We have the partners-at-work and friendly-to-the-point-of-going-out-for-drinks-every-Friday things in our favour as far as a relationship goes but we need to come up with a reason for the marriage."

"We got tired of hiding it," Levi suggested. "Sneaking around was fun and all but we decided it was time to make it official."

"And it doesn't get more official than marriage, yes," Mikasa said, nodding. "It's a simple explanation but simple is good in this case."

"Take today off to talk everything out," Erwin said. "Focus on the timetable. Make it believable but fast. Also, think about a way to separate amicably after we get the journal. I would hate to lose you as a team."

"Sometimes people are better off as friends," Mikasa said. "Levi and I are mature enough to realize after a while that the marriage doesn't work so we go back to being friends and colleagues. That's not going to be a problem."

Levi nodded. It wasn't like anything was ever going to happen between them anyway. Even without this complication, she might have turned him down if he ever asked her out so it was better to have things out in the open like this. That didn't mean he liked it but he had learned a long time ago how to separate his personal and business lives, mostly by not having much of a personal life. He would keep this strictly business and they would go back to normal after a year.

"Good. Still, go over all the contingencies you can think of. I'm pulling both of you off the active roster until after the wedding so don't take too long."

It was a clear dismissal. Once they were outside, they looked at each other. It wasn't exactly awkward but there was a certain tension between them.

"So-"

"So-"

It was one of the most clichéd situations ever. Mikasa snickered and Levi cracked a smile and just like that, the tension was gone.

"I don't think the office is the best place for that discussion we need to have," Mikasa said.

"Right. It's still morning and it's not Friday but I could do with a drink."

"Sure, that sounds great right now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole Noemi thing was always meant to be a red herring and clarified within the first couple of chapters. See you on Tuesday.


	3. Basics

There was something surreal about the situation, Mikasa thought. When she had arrived at the agency earlier in the morning, she couldn't have guessed what bizarre twist the fate had in store for her. A new case was what she had expected. What she had gotten was, for all intents and purposes, an engagement. A pretend one, sure, but an engagement nonetheless.

She glanced down at the man walking by her side. She and Levi had had their ups and downs in the time they had known each other. There had been more ups recently and to be honest, she was lucky to get stuck with Levi in this kind of predicament. She knew both of them were professionals when it came to their jobs so she didn't have to worry about things getting out of hand. Although she wouldn't mind terribly if they did.

Mikasa studied Levi's profile carefully. She could pinpoint some similarities in their appearances if she looked hard enough - shape of the eyebrows and cheekbones, maybe something about the chin - but before now she wouldn't have guessed them to be related. It was a strange feeling, to find someone like that, but it wasn't a bad thing.

"I'm sorry you got caught in this," Levi said suddenly. "It isn't fair to you."

"Lots of things aren't fair to people and they still happen," she pointed out. "And your uncle's scheming is not your fault, either."

"How can you just accept it? The man literally played with our lives for nothing but his amusement."

"Do you think that's why he did all this?"

Mikasa had never met or even seen Kenny. All she had to go on was his dossier and that had been lacking in more ways than one. The man had been a serious threat and she wasn't thinking otherwise. Still, to do a thing like this, to meddle in other people's lives even after his death, when he wouldn't have a chance to see the results, it didn't exactly fit in with his profile.

"He never gave me a reason to think otherwise. He was the most selfish bastard I had ever known."

She wanted to ask more but something about his tone of voice told her not to. This wasn't easy for Levi. She was able to shrug things off so far, mostly because she had no emotional connection to Kenny. She had a reason to be upset with him but it wasn't personal, not the way it was personal to Levi.

"Well, at least we're not two strangers stuck in a mess like that," she said. "Can you imagine having to go through this with someone you didn't know at all?"

"Yes, I can," he replied. "That's what I thought was going to happen ever since I heard about that condition."

"Oh," Mikasa said softly. She hadn't realized that. When she had read that passage earlier, she had known the document had meant her. The name combination was too unusual to be a coincidence. She had been surprised at the condition but she had known she and Levi would be in it together and that had been a reassuring thought. She hadn't considered the possibility that Levi had been ignorant of her origins. Erwin and Hange had known from the beginning and she had thought Levi had, too.

"It doesn't matter now," Levi said. "It's like Erwin said, this makes things simple for us."

"So we're going to treat this as any other mission?"

"That would be for the best."

She nodded. It was for the best. The whole situation, with its personal angle, had a potential to be disrupting to them both. Treating it in a detached manner was the best approach to take.

"What kind of a timetable do we have to work with?"

"Bianca, the executor of the will, said we'd have to stay together for a year. That's presumably after the wedding. As for the wedding itself, we could do a quick ceremony at a city hall-"

"No, we can't," Mikasa interrupted him. "If we're going to pretend this is real, we can't have a quick wedding like that. It would fit with our cover of having a secret affair and getting tired of hiding but my parents would be disappointed to have missed it. Lying to them is bad enough, I can't blow them off with the wedding too. I'm sorry if it's inconvenient but-"

It was his turn to interrupt her.

"It's okay, I understand. I have people like that, too."

They came to a stop in front of their usual bar. Mikasa looked at the door and then at Levi.

"I just realized the flaw in our drinking plan."

"So did I."

The bar was closed, which wasn't all that surprising, given that it was barely nine in the morning.

"There is a nice café nearby," Mikasa suggested. "They have a good selection of teas and they serve breakfast which I happened to miss thanks to Eren."

"It has those round booths in the back, doesn't it?"

She nodded and they started to walk again. The café wasn't far off and they reached it quickly. They kept quiet until they were seated and their orders brought in. Once the waiter left, Mikasa picked up where they had left off.

"We could probably plan a small wedding with a reception for the closest friends and family in about two months. My mom could help out."

"Kenny left me a lot of money. We can use those to pay for everything, since I don't think we would have much luck persuading Erwin to give us funds from the agency's budget."

Mikasa opened her mouth to protest but closed it again. This wasn't a real relationship and it was Kenny's fault. It made sense. She suspected her parents would try and insist on paying anyway - Yeagers were traditional like that - but she knew how to sway them.

They hadn't wanted her to join FOSCA either, wondering why she would chose such a dangerous and violent lifestyle after the events of her childhood. As she had pointed out, her childhood had been the reason. She had found out when she had been seventeen that the failed robbery had been a cover-up. The true intentions of her birth parents' murderers had been much more sinister. If she could make a difference, if she could prevent someone else from going through the same thing as she had, then it was worth it.

ISMRT had been an option, too, she had had enough skills and brains to get in, but a corruption scandal had come to light at a time when she had been deciding and she had gone for FOSCA instead. It had allowed her to travel more, since ISMRT (Internal Security Measures and Response Team) primarily handled domestic matters. Two years after the end of her training, she had yet to regret picking FOSCA.

"I should get you a ring," Levi said, looking at her hands.

"It's not necessary," she said but he had that stubborn look on his face she had come to recognize and knew he wouldn't budge from his position.

"Yes, it is. A story like this, it's all in the details. We're getting married so you're getting a ring."

"Was that a proposal?" she asked teasingly. He looked startled at her tone.

"How do you-" he paused, looked at her and rephrased what he was going to say. "Why do you just accept this?"

"Because I'm trying to look at the whole picture. Doing this is necessary. It's the easiest way for us to obtain the journal. Maybe if it was someone else and not you..." Mikasa trailed off, the thought not very pleasant. "We're at an advantage because we're familiar with each other. We don't have to pretend to get along, we already do. We trust each other. I'm pretty sure we'll have some awkward moments but all things considered? We got lucky."

"I guess we did."

He still didn't seem convinced and Mikasa knew there was far more to this whole thing than Levi was telling her. But friends or not, this was a very new territory for them. And they had more than a year together ahead of them. They could tackle those issues later.

* * *

"You were actually serious?"

Levi stopped in front of the jeweler's store (Priceless) and turned to look at her.

"Of course I was serious."

Mikasa sighed. Of course he had been serious. She saw how he had slowly gotten into his mission mindset while she had been finishing her belated breakfast. Whatever qualms or doubts he had had, they had been put away. She was still working on being able to distance herself like that and she felt she was getting there.

They had agreed on letting their families know first. They would be the hardest to convince but it was a necessary risk. Then again, both Levi and herself worked well under pressure so if they passed that test, they would be in the clear. It also meant a dinner invitation to the Yeagers' for Levi very soon which is why he probably insisted on this side trip.

"We need to convince everyone this is real. An engagement ring is a good start."

"What am I doing here, then?"

Levi shrugged and held the door open for her.

"We're not exactly a conventional couple. I don't want to pick some piece of shit you would hate but felt obliged to wear so you're going to choose it yourself."

The saleswoman must have caught the last part because she had that slightly strained polite smile one wore when faced with a new and confusing situation.

"May I help you?" she inquired.

"We'd like to see your selection of engagement rings."

Mikasa followed after him towards the display case the saleswoman directed them to. She grimaced a bit. There were many rings. A lot of them were the loud, ostentatious types with large rocks and complicated settings. She didn't understand everyone's obsession with diamonds. Yes, they were pretty but they always seemed cold and lifeless to her.

"What price range are we looking at?" the saleswoman asked.

"None," Levi said as he scrutinized what was on the offer. "Do you like any of these?" he asked Mikasa.

"Actually, no. They're rather impractical."

"May I ask what's your line of work?" The saleswoman directed them towards another case. Mikasa liked those rings better. Not so obvious and with more elegant designs, the diamonds being accents rather than centres of the arrangements.

"Security," Mikasa answered, her eyes drawn towards the group of rings with purplish stones. "I'm required to carry a handgun so a big ring would get in the way. Can I see those better?"

She pointed towards the rings that caught her attention.

"That's part of our birth stones collection. Amethysts are a February stone, most of them are set in white gold, with small 1/4 carat diamonds as accents."

It must have been a sign.

"Your birthday is in February, isn't it?" Levi murmured and she nodded. There was an especially pretty ring with three smallish amethysts in a woven pattern of white gold and small diamonds around them. It was rather simple but that was why Mikasa liked it. She tried it on, liking the way it looked on her finger.

"I like this one," she declared. The saleswoman's smile was more genuine this time and when Mikasa saw the discreetly displayed price by the empty socket, she understood. It was one of the more expensive pieces.

"We'll take it then," Levi said before she could protest and she handed it back to be packed in a typical velvet box. "I guess we should have some sort of a story prepared for how I proposed," he added in a quiet voice while the saleswoman rang their purchase up.

"Dragging me to the jeweler's and ordering me to pick a ring is not interesting enough?"

"You know what I mean."

"We'll come up with something," she reassured him. After all, that was what they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit on the shorter side. The next one is shaping up to be a monster, though. Lots of characters and their interactions.
> 
> Also, my tumblr post [here](http://mirime-kisarrastine.tumblr.com/post/125838814211/unconditional-03-basics) has a picture of the ring Mikasa picked. It's at the end of the chapter.


End file.
